


Striking Out

by ScarlettWallflower



Category: Hetalia: Axis Powers
Genre: M/M, Mentioned DenNor, spamano - Freeform, superhero au
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-12-04
Updated: 2018-12-04
Packaged: 2019-09-07 02:46:18
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings, No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,531
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/16845616
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ScarlettWallflower/pseuds/ScarlettWallflower
Summary: Romano, AKA Psychopomp, goes through his first night as a harbinger of justice and failure is the name of the game. At least he gets a sexy archenemy. Wait, that's not a good thing...





	Striking Out

**Author's Note:**

> Cross-posting from tumblr in anticipation of the purge. 
> 
> Cast List: 
> 
> Romano as Psychopomp
> 
> Spain as El Caballero
> 
> Denmark as Power Line
> 
> Norway as Maelstrom
> 
> Seychelles as Tidal Wave
> 
> Belgium as Seismica
> 
> Netherlands as Pyrotechnix
> 
> Prussia as Ubermensch
> 
> France as Trompe L’oeil
> 
> By the by, I’m considering making this into a larger AU with more stories. If you’d be interested in seeing something like that, be sure to let me know!

“Next candidate: Psychopomp!”

Romano adjusted his mask, grinning. This was it! His chance to become a hero and make himself useful. The prospect of helping others and gaining the friends he’d always wanted was right there. All he had to do was make the superhero team.

He jogged into the interview room, adrenaline pumping. He nearly fell back in shock when he saw who would be judging him.

The entire team of supers were there! Romano has assumed they had some kind of managers or something that picked people for the team. There was Tidal Wave, her hair tied in pigtails with her signature red ribbons. Power Line was next to her with his spiky blonde hair and bright blue eyes glowing kindly. Next to him was Maelstrom, Power Line’s best friend and rumored husband, looking as gallant and annoyed as he ever had on television. Then there was Seismica, looking confident and cheerful in her warm earth toned costume, her short honey blonde curls peeking out from under her helmet.

And finally there was Pyrotechnix, the team leader, arms crossed and a foreboding frown on his face.

“So, tell us about your powers and why you want to join the team,” Pyrotechnix said in a gruff, bored voice.

“Um, well, I have psionic powers. I have telekinesis, I can create force fields. And I’ve done my research. I know that there are no supers or villains currently active that have psionic powers. So I could be a real ace in the hole. I can even influence people’s thoughts or emotions.”

“Wow, can you tell us more about that?” Seismica piped up, leaning towards him with her elbows on the table.

Romano felt a flicker of confidence spurring him onward.

“Sure! So I can calm down people when they’re upset just by thinking and sort of directing the energy. And I’ve been able to even change opinions or implant false memories.”

Tidal Wave raised her eyebrows and looked perturbed, causing Romano to quickly backtrack.

“N-nothing bad. Like not in a bad way. I just made my brother think that I was wearing a red shirt instead of a blue one. Just something simple like that.”

“And how do we know that you’re not tampering with our thoughts right now? How do we know that you really belong on this team?” Pyrotechnix asked.

“Well, I can show you! I can demonstrate my powers!”

Pyrotechnix gave him an impatient “go on then” gesture and Romano began his carefully planned show.

First, telekinesis, the money-maker. He concentrated on an extra chair in the corner and forced it to levitate. His intention had been to do something really smooth, like bring the chair over and make it pull itself out for him to sit. But somewhere along the line, Romano’s concentration slipped and he overshot, sending the chair flying harshly into the wall behind him and shattering it.

The supers gasped, except for Pyrotechnix who looked even more pissed off than he had.

“Thanks for breaking our chair. Anything else?”

“Heh heh, sorry about that. Um, how about one of my other mental powers? I think those are my best. Could I have a volunteer?”

There was no movement, then Power Line suddenly raised his hand. “What do I have to do?”

“Nothing. Just sit right where you are!”

Romano knew this was his last chance to prove himself and it had better go right. The idea was to make Power Line recall a happy memory and make him laugh then correctly tell him exactly what memory he’d brought up. Romano had actually been hoping for Power Line to help him. He seemed like such a happy guy and Romano had found that people with a generally cheery outlook on life were the easiest to do this with. Certainly he didn’t want to go digging around in the mind of Pyrotechnix.

Romano stared into Power Line’s eyes and concentrated on finding his thoughts and memories. Usually, the first thing Romano did was get a general sense of the makeup of a person’s mind and select a memory from there. It was almost like creating a map, because when he understood the person’s emotional and mental state, it became clear how their memories were organized and prioritized and thus, easy to isolate and select.

Romano had assumed that Power Line’s mind would be fairly organized and straightforward. Perhaps that was his first mistake. When he was able to access Power Line’s mind, the amount of emotional clutter and sadness nearly shocked him out of his concentration and severed the connection.

Unwilling to make the same mistake he had before, Romano focused even harder and tried to limit the intrusion of his own thoughts. He sifted through the memories at the forefront of Power Line’s mind. If he had to dig further, this would take way too long. A cursory “test” of the emotion associated with the memory was positive and Romano quickly shifted the memory to Power Line’s consciousness and got out.

Romano watched his subject’s eyes, waiting desperately for a smile or even a glint of happiness. Power Line’s eyes flicked up and to the right as he recalled. Suddenly, a horrified look came over his face and he covered his mouth like he was going to be sick. He pushed his chair away from the table and bolted out of the room.

Romano’s heart sunk.

“What’s wrong? It- it was just a memory of him and his brother when they were little kids. They were playing in a park or something and then-”

“Power Line’s brother was captured by VIRUS a few years ago. There was a huge battle and a lot of civilians died. There was a little girl he tried to save but it was too late and she died in his arms,” Maelstrom said quietly.

“I’m so sorry I didn’t mean to. I thought I was pulling out a happy memory,” Romano pleaded.

Pyrotechnix stood up.

“I think we’ve seen enough. You were right, you do have a unique set of powers. But it’s clear you also have no control over them. Beyond that, they’re dangerous in and of themselves. Who’s to say you wouldn’t accidentally start some kind of mass brainwashing or throw the gravitational pull out of whack? Just go home. And if I ever hear about you doing this to innocent people on purpose, there will be serious consequences.”

“No please! I’ve wanted to be a superhero my whole life. I know I’m not that good with my powers yet but maybe someone could train me.”

“This is not a training camp. I don’t have time to waste on undeveloped supers who may or may not be completely out of control. In case you haven’t noticed, we already have plenty of terrorists, thieves, and megalomaniacs trying to destroy the country and the world. Don’t add to my problems.”

Pyrotechnix marched out of the room, leaving slight singe marks in his wake.

Those left behind at the table stared at Romano with pity.

“My brother, he doesn’t mean to be so harsh,” Seismica said gently.

“I think your powers are really cool, even if they are kinda scary,” Tidal Wave chirped.

The girls gave him awkward smiles and followed Pyrotechnix. Maelstrom stood up last and walked over to Romano, putting a hand on his shoulder.

“I know you didn’t mean to hurt Power Line. You were right, no one else has powers like yours and you could be an asset to the team. Just practice your abilities and come back in a year or two. Pyro is kind of a jerk but he doesn’t get to make decisions by himself. I’d vote for you.”

“Thanks,” Romano muttered. “I know he probably doesn’t want to see me so could you tell Power Line I’m sorry?”

Maelstrom nodded and with one final pat to the shoulder, left Romano alone.

Romano sighed. “Dammit.”

By the time Romano made it out of the super’s command center, it was already dark out. He tore his mask off and crumpled it into his bag. So much for being a badass. A chilly wind snapped by, reminding him to zip up his jacket so no one could see his costume. It would be going into the garbage the minute he got home.

Romano decided to take the long way home to give himself time to wallow in self-pity before he had to go home and answer a litany of questions from his brother about where he'd been and what he'd been doing.

He didn’t bother paying much attention to where he was going and it wasn’t long before Romano ended up in what could be called the city’s red light district. A couple of ladies actually approached him and Romano turned them down as politely as he could. As he trudged on, Romano heard a commotion coming from an open window on the third story of a building. Worried that a customer might have gotten violent with a woman, Romano headed towards the front door when an older woman came running down the steps.

“What’s going on?”

“These three guys just came in and started destroying my place and beating up some of my best customers. I think they’re those weirdos from the TV. I’m scared they’re gonna hurt my girls.”

“Go to a neighbor and call for help,” Romano ordered as he broke into a run. “I’ll go help the girls.”

“Hey, what’re you gonna do? You’re not a super!”

Romano tugged on his mask as he got inside the building and began charging up the stairs. It didn’t take long to locate the room when he made it up. An open door leading to a fire escape showed Romano that the girls had made it safely out and he breathed a sigh of relief. Now it was time to take down the bad guys.

Romano concentrated, trying to mold the energy into his telekinesis to kick the door open and ran in. Five men in their underwear were huddled in a corner, the mayor, two senators, a diplomat, and a famous lawyer, all married family men. Romano rolled his eyes and focused his attention on the three “weirdos” who hadn’t even bothered to acknowledge him.

The woman had been right, they were the guys from TV. A gang of three terrorists known as the Bad Friends Trio (seriously, what a ridiculous name).

There was Ubermensch, the de facto leader and strongest, both literally and power-wise of the three, kicking the men in the corner and mocking them. Trompe L’oeil, illusionist and invisibility guy, was taking pictures and gathering evidence. And El Caballero, the gentleman thief, was hunting through the discarded coat and pants pockets for money and valuables.

Tired of being ignored, Romano shouted “Hey! Stop!”

The three villains turned and looked at Romano, unimpressed.

“Go home, kid. We’re a little busy here.” Ubermensch said and turned back to what he was doing.

“What you’re doing is wrong!”

Ubermensch craned his neck around towards Romano and lifted an eyebrow.

“No, what they’re doing is wrong. Toss me that,” he jerked his chin in El Caballero’s direction and caught the object thrown at him without ever taking his eyes off Romano.

He opened a wallet and yanked something out of it. A photo of a smiling family with two little kids in Christmas outfits.

“This is what’s wrong here. This scumbag is cheating on his wife, destroying his family, and all while embezzling money from the government to finance his little escapades. I don’t know about you, but I don’t like my tax dollars going to hookers and blow.” Romano followed his eyes to the white powder on the table that Trompe L’oeil was collecting with a strip of tape.

“Two wrongs don’t make a right. You can’t just beat up people and rob them, even if they are doing a bad thing. You should have called the cops.”

“The cops? Oh buddy, you just missed the chief of police running out of here before he got to the ‘happy ending’ part of his massage.”

“Well, what about the supers?”

Trompe L’oeil shouted something in French likely implying that the supers should go make sweet love to themselves before going back to his work.

“You can’t just-”

“Kid, you’re cute and all but you’re getting on my last nerves. Either you can leave now or I’ll sic El Caballero over there on you.”

Romano planted his feet. “I’m not going anywhere.”

Ubermensch heaved an exasperated sigh. “You heard him, Don Juan. Take care of him while me and Trompe finish up here.”

Romano turned toward El Caballero who spared a moment to stare at him, blinking, before he ran at Romano and tackled him into the hallway.

Romano had just enough presence of mind to use his telekinesis to stop the two of them from busting a hole in the drywall.

El Caballero looked intrigued behind his mask and gave a grin before sucker punching Romano in the face.

“Psionic powers, huh?” El Caballero asked as they rolled around on the floor punching and kicking each other. “That’s pretty special.”

“Sure is,” Romano muttered before kneeing the thief in the groin.

“You got any powers I should know about?” Romano asked as he held El Caballero down on the floor by the neck.

El Caballero grabbed Romano’s wrist and flipped him. Romano gasped for breath as the wind was knocked out of him and El Caballero took the opportunity to tie Romano’s wrists to a nearby door handle, straddling his legs as he did so to prevent another potential sterilization.

“Nope, just cool tricks.”

Romano glanced at his newly-found arch enemy.

“You always tie your victims up? That’s kinky.”

El Caballero grinned and leaned in close, his lips nearly touching Romano’s.

“Just the ones I like. We could make this a regular appointment if you want, though.”

“What is this shit, Fifty Shades of Gray?” Romano knocked their foreheads together and began working his wrists free of the loose ropes. Suddenly, Ubermensch and Trompe L’oeil appeared.

“Alright, Don Quixote, you can play tie-me-up with your little Italian boy some other time. We gotta go.”

El Caballero struggled to hoist himself off the floor. “Hasta la pronto, mi amigo.Thanks for giving me some fun tonight.” He gave a mock salute to Romano and the three ran off in the direction of the fire escape.

Romano briefly considered giving up. He’d pretty much already lost anyway. But the thought of potentially taking down a pain-in-the-ass villain and gaining the supers’ respect was too tempting. It was now or never.

“Fun’s not over yet!” And with that, he charged towards El Caballero just as he was climbing out the window.

This was not one of Romano’s better ideas. Mainly because El Caballero had not been steady on the ledge as he reached out to take the hand of Ubermensch who was capable of flight and already in the air.

The suddden weight caused Ubermensch to drop El Caballero and sent both of them falling straight down three stories into a dumpster below.

When they landed, Ubermensch called out from above, “Hey, Caballero, get that little shit out of here. We’ll pick you up when you’re done. Hurry it up!”

El Caballero yanked a woozy Romano out of the dumpster and pushed him against the wall. All traces of previous sexual tension were gone as El Caballero began to, quite literally, beat the snot out of Romano.

After several brutal punches, El Caballero stopped, holding Romano’s limp body.

“Why aren’t you fighting back? You have powers.”

“You don’t. Wouldn’t be fair,” Romano muttered around his swollen lip.

“Oh come on, show me what you can do. Just once!”

But Romano’s was so punch-drunk, his concentration was shot. The best he could manage was a weak attempt at a force field to bounce El Caballero off him.

Now, force fields tended to give Romano trouble on a good day, usually in the form of a slight nosebleed. But now, when his body was already giving out, the ensuing blood loss caused his head to reel and his vision to blacken. Within seconds, Romano felt himself crumpling to the ground in a ragged heap.

When Romano came to, he was, unsurprisingly, in a hospital bed.

Considering that he felt like he’d been run over by a truck, this made perfect sense. What didn’t make sense was the guy in a red and black costume with a matching carnival mask sitting in a chair nearby and reading the newspaper.

Romano sat there, horribly confused and waiting for an explanation.

Finally the man looked up, a glint in his eyes and said “Oh good you’re awake.”

Wait a minute, that accent…

“Shit,” Romano screeched and grabbed his pillow to use as a shield for his torso.

He touched his cheek and, realizing he was not wearing his own mask, ducked his head behind the pillow.

Footsteps came close to him. This was the end.

“Oh fuck how did you get in here? You must know my name and now you’ve seen my face. Please if you’re gonna kill me, just don’t go after my family. And don’t mess me up so bad my brother has to cremate me. Shit I just told you I have a brother! Okay just take me now before I say anything else incriminating.”

Romano squeezed his eyes shut in anticipation of a blow that never came.

He peeked one eye open and saw El Caballero standing over him grinning like a fox and shaking his head. Romano lowered the pillow cautiously.

“Man I don’t get you. Why are you scared of me? You have powers, you could end me right here.”

Romano bit his lip, wondering if it would count as revealing even more personal information to tell his nemesis about his problem. He decided that the fact that El Caballero hadn’t killed him in his sleep was reason enough to be honest. 

“Look, I can’t always… my powers don’t work all the time. I haven’t had them that long and most of the time I was trying to hide them or deny it. So I don’t have much practice. And when they do work, my powers are kind of intense.”

Romano sighed and turned towards the window.

“That’s why I’m thinking about giving it up.”

“Giving up what?”

“This whole hero thing. As much as I hate to admit it, the supers are right. I can’t control my powers. There’s no supers right now that have psionic powers so there’s nobody to teach me. I’m doing way more harm than good.”

El Caballero smiled behind his mask.

“Ahh, my friends would kill me themselves if they knew what I was about to do.”

Romano whipped his head around. “What are you talking about?”

El Caballero reached into the coat pocket of his costume and pulled out a small white business card.

“Take this and when they let you out of here, call the number. It’ll put you in touch with some people who are on the outs with the official heroes too.”

“I don’t… why would you do this? You already know my identity and all my weaknesses. I would be so easy to-”

“To kill? Sure. But that’s not really my style. Believe it or not, my friends and I aren’t that rough. I do want to beat you in a fight. A fair fight. That’s why I want you to find a group of people who have powers the supers think are dangerous and let them teach you. When you get better, then we can try again.”

Romano stared at El Caballero for a minute, then smiled.

“You might have to wait a while. Are you still going to be stealing important documents and kidnapping senators?”

“Until somebody can stop me.”

“You’re on.”

“I’m glad. Now, if you’ll excuse me, I need to get going.”

El Caballero took a step back, checking out the ceiling.

“You’re not actually going to escape using the air vent shafts, are you? Please tell me you’re not that big of a cliche.”

El Caballero wheeled an unused IV stand over and lifted it up to pop open one of the ceiling panels. The wooden chair provided a step makeshift stepladder for the thief as he tested the distance with his arms. Satisfied, he climbed back down and strode over to Romano’s bed. He leaned down, close enough for Romano to see olive green eyes that sparked with good humor and mischief.

“I like surprises, but sometimes, knowing what comes next is more fun.”

Before Romano could react, El Caballero planted a hard kiss on him. It was passionate but short, El Caballero pulling back soon after and poking his nose.

“I’ll see you soon, Psychopomp.”

And with one final wink, he crossed the room and hoisted himself up into the air vents.

“B-Bye,” Romano spluttered two seconds too late.

Romano wanted to be mad about the kiss but he sighed, laying back against the pillow.

“Whatever. I’ll kick his ass for it after I get my training done.”


End file.
